EF0 tornado in Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

The tornado that formed northeast of Savoy in St. Landry Parish moved north into extreme southeastern Evangeline Parish. Several trees were blown down or uprooted as the tornado crossed Highway 95 just west of the Parish Road 1-115 intersection. Local residents in the area observed the tornado. The tornado the dissipated just north of the highway.

A powerful upper level storm system moved across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley from Wednesday, December 23, 2009, through Thursday, December 24, 2009. Numerous showers and elevated thunderstorms, including some supercells, repeatedly developed and moved northward across much of southwest Louisiana and the northern Gulf of Mexico from late Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. As the main upper level system approached Louisiana early Thursday morning, a squall line developed across east Texas and moved rapidly eastward across Louisiana, causing several reports of wind damage in southern Louisiana. Meanwhile, some of the elevated supercells became surface-based and tracked north-northeastward across south-central and east-central Louisiana, spawning at least a dozen tornadoes. In addition, the widespread rainfall caused flooding in some of these same areas.

In total, at least 12 tornadoes affected portions of Vermilion, Acadia, St. Landry, Evangeline, and Avoyelles Parishes within a two hour timespan from 7-9 AM. Seven tornadoes affected Acadia Parish alone, the biggest single outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded in that parish. Three tornadoes were rated EF2, three were rated EF1, and six were rated EF0. Other tornadoes likely occurred that were reported by area residents but could not be confirmed by NWS storm surveys. These included a likely tornado just east of I-49 in extreme northeastern Evangeline Parish, a possible tornado about 8 miles southwest of Gueydan, and another east of Palmetto in far northeastern St. Landry Parish. This was the largest outbreak of tornadoes in the NWS Lake Charles county warning area since November 23, 2004.